On this month's episode of Asking for a Friend, host Dr. Laura McGuire sits down with Sarah Luna, a Texas-born sociocultural anthropologist, professor, and award-winning author, to discuss her coming out experience in San Antonio, her research on migrants, sex work, and missionaries, and her latest project on sapphic and transfeminist activism in Mexico City.…
Latina
AFAF 6: Teaching Sexuality Education to Future Hispanic and Latinx Generations with Agnes Jimenez
Posted on August 11, 2021On the season one finale of the Asking for a Friend podcast, host Dr. Laura McGuire sits down with Agnes Jimenez, sexuality educator, doula, and Marine Corps veteran, to discuss her experiences growing up as a Puerto Rican lesbian in the military, how she found her calling as a sex educator, and how she’s actively fighting the generational stigma around sex and sexuality within Hispanic and Latinx communities. Agnes Jimenez (she/her) is a sexuality educator, is of Taina Afro-Caribbean descent,…
Call Me Latine: New Online Resource Helps Queer and Non-Binary Latines Define Themselves
Posted on December 29, 2020As contentious as the word “Latinx” is, it has emerged as the most commonly used gender-neutral word for “Latino” in the United States. From politics to pop culture, “Latinx” has been used in an effort to be more inclusive of transgender and non-binary people who are of Latin American descent. However, there is a similar word that is gaining traction in the U.S. that goes further to address gender bias in the Spanish language: Latine. …
Señorita Cinema, World’s Only All-Latina Film Festival, Returns to Houston November 1-3
Posted on October 29, 2019As Señorita Cinema, the world’s only all-Latina film festival, gears up for its return to Houston this November 1–3, founder Stephanie Saint Sanchez promises attendees “can absolutely expect to see things that they haven’t before.” Launched in 2007, the biannual festival was born from Saint Sanchez’s lifelong love affair with filmmaking. She begged for a video camera for her 13th birthday and, after finally getting her hands on one, has been obsessed with creating film ever since. But as her career…
5 Queer Latinx Icons to Celebrate This Hispanic Heritage Month
Posted on September 13, 2019It’s time to give credit where credit is due. The modern-day LGBTQ-rights movement would be nowhere without the tireless efforts of the powerful and resilient queer Latinx activists who fought—and continue to fight—for LGBTQ people’s freedom to exist. Throughout history, these movers and shakers have made extraordinary strides to improve the state of trans rights, criminal justice, HIV advocacy, gender equality, and more.…
‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Star Sara Ramirez, Activist Bamby Salcedo to Judge Miss & Mr. Trans OLTT Fundraiser
Posted on April 17, 2019Organización Latina de Trans en Texas, better known as OLTT, is a Houston-based non-profit organization that provides life-saving resources to the trans Latinx community. The organization was founded by Ana Andrea Molina, an undocumented trans Latina, who currently serves as the organization’s executive director. One of the main services OLTT provides is housing for Latina trans women at the organization’s shelter, Casa Anandrea. In 2018 alone, the organization was able to provide housing to 120 trans Latinas throughout the course…
An Ode to Mami: Lessons on Womanhood
Posted on March 8, 2019My first idea of womanhood came from my mother. I remember being a child in Colombia, physically looking up at her, and seeing her ooze femininity—although I did not have this word yet. It’s the nineties, and my mother wears lots of dresses and skirts and crop tops and shorts. I remember her in flowing skirts made of sheer fabrics and tank tops with thin straps that she wore without a bra. She always wore lots of jewelry—necklaces, earrings, and…
Painting Outside The Lines: Meet Queer Houston Artist Stephanie Gonzalez
Posted on September 28, 2018From the moment you step into artist Stephanie Gonzalez’s Houston studio, your eyes are drawn in every direction: from her in-progress project made from thrown-away papers, to her latest sculpture, “The Scissor Sisters,” a statement on how men often view lesbian sex as exaggerated entertainment for their own pleasure.…
Trans Latinx Liberation: Ana Andrea Molina Headlines Gender Infinity Conference
Posted on September 27, 2018Gender Infinity is a transgender- and gender-variant-focused conference that takes place annually in Houston, Texas. This year, it spans the weekend of October 5-6, with both days crammed full of programming that caters to the specific needs of the trans and gender-diverse population. Now in their eighth year, the conference offers workshops, discussions, community and health education, and keynote speakers on hot topics that are affecting the gender-diverse population, and specifically has included many spaces for the queer Black, indigenous, Latinx,…
Bitter, Brown, and Femme: Meet the Founder of Popular Feminist Page Xicanisma
Posted on September 25, 2018Cassandra Alicia, the 29-year-old founder of the popular Chicana feminist social media page Xicanisma, isn’t afraid of making her 106,000 Instagram followers uncomfortable. In fact, her tagline is “dismantling oppressive isms through tears.” Her Instagram posts highlight an array of social justice issues through photos, art, memes, and screenshots. One post, for example, is in the popular bingo meme format that points out how violent anti-sex work rhetoric can be, especially in light of recent events where a border patrol…